


Lay Your Head on Me

by jule1122



Series: Never Tear Us Apart [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alex Manes Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Future Fic, Happy Ending, M/M, Michael Guerin Deserves Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24570577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jule1122/pseuds/jule1122
Summary: “There’s so much I need to say to you, but i don’t want to do it here. So you have to come with me, and after we leave, I’m going to take you out, and we’ll drive out to the desert like we used to and lay in the back of my truck. I want to tell you how I feel, and what I want for you, for us. We can make plans like we used to when we were kids, only this time we’ll make them happen. I want to whisper every ridiculously romantic thing I should have said to you into your ear."Post rescue, Michael tells Alex everything
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Never Tear Us Apart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775917
Comments: 24
Kudos: 168





	Lay Your Head on Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct follow up to [Make Wine From Your Tears](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432493). You don't have to read it first, but there are direct references to it so it will make more sense if you do. This fic references things Michael says in 2X11, but diverges from canon after 2X10. Alex was kidnapped, but there is no bomb, no Helena and Alex is rescued in the first story of this series.
> 
> This is self indulgent fluff with no redeeming value. Just 2000 words of Michael and Alex sharing their dreams and making them all come true.
> 
> Title is from the song of the same name "Lay Your Head on Me" by Major Lazor featuring Marcus Mumford. It is such a Malex song. You should listen to it and cry about them like I do.

By the time Michael parks the truck in one of his favorite star gazing spots, Alex is asleep, head thrown back against the top of the seat. He looks peaceful and so beautiful that Michael wants to take a picture or crawl into his lap or maybe just stare at him and cry. He hesitates to turn off the truck. Taking Alex on a date only a few hours after his rescue, even if the date has been pared down to some low key cuddling, seems like a terrible idea. But Alex had insisted Michael follow through on his promise, and Michael wasn’t ready to let Alex out of his sight.

“I’m awake,” Alex says just as Michael has decided to just drive him home.

“We can do this another night,” Michael reminds him as he watches Alex struggle to open his eyes.

“You have more faith in the future than I do,” Alex sits up and reaches around Michael to turn the truck off. “I didn’t risk blowing us both up to go home alone.”

“Alex,” Michael sighs. 

“Come on. You promised me a romantic night under the stars,” Alex reaches for his hand, and Michael aches at the vulnerability on his face. “You promised to hold me, I need that.”

Michael closes his eyes, overwhelmed by what it feels like to hear Alex admit that. He’ll hold Alex for the rest of their lives if that’s what he wants. So he exits the truck and puts the tailgate down before opening Alex’s door. Without his prosthetic, Alex uses the crutches he borrowed from the hospital to get the back of the truck, but allows Michael to help him up. Once he’s seated on the blankets, he eyes Michael suspiciously, “Is there a mattress under here?”

“Valenti drives a hard bargain,” Michael shrugs. “You’re lucky he didn’t make us bring the IV.”

Alex laughs, a real laugh, and Michael feels the tightness in his chest ease just a little bit. It eases a little once he leans against the pillows piled up against the back window and pulls Alex into his arms. 

“I love you,” he says because he can’t wait another second to say it. “I love you so fucking much, and I’m sorry”

“No,” Alex says, shaking his head and cutting Michael off. “No apologies tonight.”

Michael runs his hand through Alex’s hair and starts again. “I love you, but I don’t think love is a big enough word for what I feel when I’m with you. I’d basically written off all of humanity as useless and ignorant, and then I met you. And you were smart and funny and kind for no reason. You’re life sucked as much as mine did, but you still tried to make mine better. I have never stopped being amazed by you. When I’m with you, everything is bigger, brighter. And every time you touch me, it feels like coming home. I love you, Alex, but it’s so much more than that.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is cosmic,” Alex teases.

“Smartass,” Michael kisses the top of his head. Alex tilts his face up, and their lips meet. The kiss is soft and gentle and so sweet, Michael pulls back before he starts sobbing all over Alex again.

“I love you too,” Alex says once his head is resting on Michael’s chest again. “I fell in love with you the first time I saw your face when you were playing the guitar, and I never stopped. You were the only person who made me feel like I could be loved, who made it worth risking my heart. And I know”

Michael can’t imagine that sentence going anywhere good, so he stops Alex with a gentle hand to his cheek. “Hey, no apologies, remember.”

“Fuck, that’s hard.”

Michael doesn’t say anything, just gives Alex time to decide if he wants to continue.

“I love the way your mind works. I love how you never give up on anything. I love how kind you are and how seeing you with Max and Isobel is teaching me what a family can be. I love you, Michael.”

They are both quiet after that. Michael watches the stars, lets the familiarity of the night sky soothe him so he can let go of the last of the fear and anger and desperation of the past week, and focus on having Alex in his arms. He never stops touching Alex, stroking his hair, holding his hand and playing with his fingers. 

Alex burrows deeper into his chest. “What did you dream about when you came out here?”

“Getting out. Once I got my scholarship I would dream about going away to school and coming back with two masters and a doctorate, proving how much smarter I was than everyone else. I wanted to be an agricultural engineer.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asks, looking up at him.

“It’s about the mechanics of agriculture. A lot of it is focused on machinery, but I was always more interested in irrigation systems. So many farms and ranches have gone under around here with the droughts and then the flooding when it does rain. A good irrigation system can make a huge difference.” Michael notices that Alex is still watching him, but his eyes have started to glaze over. “Irrigation doesn’t do it for you?” he teases.

“I let Kyle give me the decent drugs,” Alex explains with a wave of his hand. “Everything is a little bit fuzzy.”

“Decent drugs?” Michael questions

“Decent enough so the pain is manageable, but not strong enough that I won’t remember this in the morning. You might have to leave the intricacies of irrigation for another night, though.”

“When I would bring you out here,” Michael continues. “I would dream about taking you with me. We’d go to school together, buy a house once we graduated. I’d be doing research, and you could do your music thing.”

“My music thing?” Alex laughs.

“I didn’t care as long as you were with me. I imagined us with a couple of kids. We’d be the cool dads who played music in the basement, and all their friend’s mom would have crushes on you.” Michael says it like a confession and holds his breath waiting for Alex’s reaction.

Alex presses a kiss to Michael’s collarbone. “You would be the coolest dad. I mean who can top telekinesis. I never got past college in my dreams. Just being away from here, being free was so big. I thought about meeting you in the coffee shop and stealing kissed when I walked you to class. You would come to all the stupid performances the music department put on, and I would be there cheering every time you won an award. We would be that couple everyone pretended to hate, but was really jealous of because we were so in love.”

“College power couple, huh,” Michael feels tears prick at his eyes for what should have been.

“Yeah,” Alex agrees before continuing. “When I thought I was getting out of the Air Force, I dreamed about taking you away from here. I wanted to start over with you, somewhere new, I wanted to sleep in a real bed with you every night, and find a favorite bar where we’d kill it at trivia night. And after a few years, once we got ourselves sorted out, we could adopt. Find some kids like us, who didn’t feel loved and give them that so they didn’t grow up hurting themselves because they were afraid to be happy.”

Michael’s crying again, but he doesn’t care. “Alex,” he breathes before kissing him. He feels the wetness on Alex’s face and kisses his tears away.

“What are you dreaming about tonight?” Alex asks once they’ve both calmed down.

“No more dreams, Alex. Tonight we’re making plans,” Michael says, bringing Alex's hand to his lips for a kiss. “When this is done, we’re leaving Roswell. I’ll find a good school, and we’ll get started on our future. You’ll meet me in the coffee shop, and we’ll win every trivia night we go to. And when we’re ready, we’ll start a family. We’re going to be happy.”

“Whatever we do, we do it together, right,” Alex’s voice slurs slightly, and Michael realizes he’s starting to fall asleep.

He leans down to whisper one last thing in Alex’s ear. “I’m going to ask you to marry me.”

“Tomorrow.”

“What?” Michael asks, surprised Alex even heard him.

“Marry me tomorrow. I’m ready to be Alex Guerin.”

He does fall asleep then, safe as promised in Michael’s arms, and Michael holds him until they both wake with the sun.

It takes three years to completely dismantle Project Sheppard, but one week after their third anniversary, they leave for the University of Arizona. It takes Michael just over four years to finish both his bachelors and masters degrees while Alex builds solid freelancing careers in both coding and song writing.

The day Michael graduates with his masters, Alex hands him the deed to the Long farm.

“The Guerin farm now,” he corrects when Michael questions him. “I think we’re both ready. You need a place for all your experiments, and it would be nice to be closer to our family.”

Michael can’t argue with that. He’d love to see his nieces more often, but he never even considers returning to Roswell. “Alex, we don’t need to do this. We’re happy here.”

“I know, but I’m not afraid anymore,” Alex smiles, and years of therapy have taught Alex to be honest about his feelings, and taught Michael to trust in that. “There’s nothing there that can hurt us. We can make good memories there. I want our kids to grow up surrounded by a loving family.”

They tear down the Long homestead and build a house on the site of the barn his mother spent over a year of her life in. As soon as the house is finished, they get approved for a foster to adoption program. It feels like fate when they are asked to take in a set of three siblings who have spent the most of their lives in separate foster homes. The oldest, Eric, is ten and has run away from his last three placements trying to find his siblings. He’s the only one who remembers their mother. Michael sees so much of himself in Eric, sometimes it hurts to look at him and not be able to fix everything for him. Zach is six and doesn’t say a word for the first four months he lives with him, but he’ll sit with Alex and watch him play the piano for hours. Savannah is four, and has been in foster care since their mother overdosed just after her first birthday. She has a blanket she carries everywhere with her, and she breaks both their hearts every time she hesitates before accepting a hug. It’s not easy, but when they finalize the adoptions two years later, they feel like a family.

At eighteen, Michael lost his dreams to a hammer and a lie. At twenty-eight, he was too angry to start dreaming again. At thirty-eight, he has a career, a husband and a family. He comes home and the love of his life, the most beautiful man he has ever known, greets him with a smile and kiss. The rush of love and affection and desire he feels every time he sees Alex never fades. 

He follows the cries of “Dad, Dad come see,” out onto the deck, running his hand along the height chart notched into the kitchen wall on his way through. He watches the kids chasing after their dog, trying to get the ball out of her mouth so they can play fetch. They’re laughing and happy, just like every child should be. He catches the look of joy on Alex’s face as he laughs along with the kids, and Michael knows this is better than any dream he ever had.


End file.
